Birthday Reminiscence
by Kuchiki Michiko
Summary: Kuchiki Byakuya has always disliked his birthday because of unfortunate things that have happened in the past... but will Rukia change that this year?


Author's note: It's Byakuya-sama's Birthday! January 31st! Yay! Here's a birthday special for you! Review to tell me if you like it!

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Byakuya-sama's Birthday- Birthday Reminiscence

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The sixth squad office building was quiet. Inside the room, Kuchiki Byakuya sat silently in his chair, back straight, using a brush to fill in his paperwork. As usual, his vice-captain was absent… or rather tardy… well… no one could expect Abarai Renji to come in on time.

It was still early, six o'clock in the morning and said captain had already been working on his huge piles of paperwork for the past hour.

Now, you might be wondering why THE Kuchiki Byakuya, notoriously known for being a responsible man would have days and days' worth of UNFINISHED paperwork on his desk… the answer was simple: today was the nth birthday of Kuchiki Byakuya, head of the great Kuchiki clan and captain of the sixth squad of the thirteen court guardian squads.

A small breeze blew in from the open window, caressing the stoic man's hair gently, and he turned to watch the rising of the red sun. It was the start of another tiring, troublesome day.

To him, his birthday had never been a cause for celebration. Rather, his birthday was an annual reminder of the painful past… a time of regret and mournful reminiscence.

It was 50 years ago that on this day, he learned that his beloved wife could not be saved from illness. It was approximately 2 weeks after that Hisana had collapsed and one month later that she took her last breath before the blooming of the first plum blossom. He remembered those days and the painful days after with frightening clarity.

Setting his brush down, Kuchiki Byakuya sipped his tea before turning back to his paperwork.

It was only around a year later, a few weeks before this day that in his determination to fulfill his wife's last wishes he discovered the existence of Hisana's sister, Rukia, in the academy.

He had been immediately struck by the similarity between the appearances of the two sisters and had hesitated for a long time before making a decision to adopt her. It was one day after his birthday that Rukia was formally adopted into the clan as his sister.

But even before all this happened, even during the time of his… younger days… his birthday was a stinging reminder of the responsibility that was looming closer with each year. He was named as the 28th head of the Kuchiki clan on the day marking his 200th year of life.

Looking back farther… the days surrounding his birthday marked the deaths of his mother who died of sickness in a December long ago and his father who died in battle soon after.

It would do no good to dwell on the past. The past… is past… and now… all that is left to be done is to face the present and the future… which including drowning himself in paperwork on every January 31st of the year… just to distract himself from the torrent of memories.

The noble _nearly_ sighed as he finished his small stack of paperwork and moved on to the next one. He would get his second in command to have the work filed later.

* * *

Rukia sighed. It was Nii-sama's birthday once again. During the 50 years that she had lived as a Kuchiki, she had never worried about giving him a present on this particular day… knowing that he probably wouldn't be bothered about his birthday.

This year… was decidedly different. Ever since her Nii-sama's confession on the Soukyoku Hill, the two had become slightly closer than before… well as close as THE Kuchiki Byakuya could get with anyone. They had actually been able to hold small conversations and Rukia had finally been able to see the care that her brother had for her… even if it were expressed in a strange way.

She wanted to thank him for his part in her rescue. Besides, if it weren't for him, she would be dead right now… even though Ichigo had successfully saved her from her execution.

"Oi! Rukia! Wake up! It's time for school!" Ichigo yelled at her from outside the closet.

"Hey! Rukia! I'm coing to open the door!" Ichigo yelled, hearing no response. A few seconds later, the closet door slid open, revealing Ichigo's annoyed, ever-present, infamous scowl… which morphed into a slightly worried look.

"Hey, Rukia, Is something wrong?" He asked. Sitting up, she sighed before answering.

"Today is Nii-sama's birthday." She said.

"Byakuya's birthday?"

"Yes! And show Nii-sama some more respect."

"Yeah, yeah, so what about Byakuya's birthday?" He asked, putting emphasis on his lack of respect towards the noble in his tone. Rukia glared at him before hopping out of the closet and grabbing her schoolbag, having changed already in the closet hours before Ichigo had woken up.

"I can't think of anything to give him." She replied, her expression slightly depressed. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Well, what did you give the priss before?" He asked. Rukia hesitated.

"Nii-sama and I weren't really close before. But ever since Aizen's betrayal, we have become closer and I just wanted to thank him…" She said after giving Ichigo a kick to the shins for calling her brother a priss.

"Meaning that you have never given him a birthday present before. Well, its kinda hard. I mean, being a noble he's probably rich enough to buy anything he wants… so you might have a problem with that…" Ichigo trailed off and was silent for a while.

"Rukia, I think I have an idea." Ichigo said, a smirk coming to his face. At Rukia's questioning look, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. A smile slowly spread across her face.

"That's a great idea! I'll just have to ask Ukitake-taicho to help us with this."

The two parted ways to… scheme…

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya had been working for 4 hours straight and had finished one third of his paperwork already. Renji had never showed up so he decided that he would file the paperwork after filling it out.

The fool probably got drunk somewhere. Suddenly, he frowned slightly, feeling a familiar reiatsu speeding towards the 6th division. Right on cue, the door burst open and Kurosaki Ichigo appeared in a gust of wind, blowing a few pieces of paperwork off his desk. He straightened and said coldly,

"Kurosaki. What are you doing in Soul Society?" He added a glare. The brat didn't even seemed daunted.

"Oh hey, Byakuya! I heard from Rukia that it's your birthday today!" Ichigo gasped, still out of breath. Byakuya glared again.

"Pick up the paperwork that you knocked over, kozo." He spoke in volumes of hell.

"Oh, right. Anyway, I also heard from Rukia that you like spicy food." Ichigo finished picking up the papers and fished something out from behind his back.

"I got you these nuts from the real world. They're really spicy. When I first ate them, I nearly had tears- um… that is smoke coming out of my ears." Ichigo set down the packet of nuts on his desk.

"Well, that's all! Seeya 'round, Byakuya!" Ichigo turned and left.

"Oh! And we'll be eating dinner at your place tonight anyway!" Ichigo called and then ran out of the sixth division like his life depended on it.

Kuchiki Byakuya stared at the packet of nuts on his desk. That was… strange.

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya let out a sigh (once he was sure that no one was around that is). It was night now and he was exhausted and also had a pounding headache as well. He reached out to take a pill for his headache. After Kurosaki's appearance at his office, many different people had appeared to wish him a happy birthday.

Ukitake-taicho had given him huge boxes of candy… which probably would be used to satiate the glucose-crazy demon from hell known as Kusajishi Yachiru.

Matsumoto-fukutaicho had accompanied Hitsugaya-taicho to wish him a happy birthday. Hitsugaya-taicho had given him a new cup and Matsumoto-fukutaicho had (Surprise! Surprise!) given him a few bottles of sake.

The other former ryoka had given him some clothes from the real world and something called a 'mekhanicle pensul' which he learned could be used for paperwork.

Representatives from the 4th division had given him a whole box of medicine for any headaches that he might have… it was implied that the other fools in his division would give him migraines…

The first division gave him a present of 5 healthy koi which had been deposited into his koi pond already. He found it slightly strange that they could have gotten into the Kuchiki manor without his permission.

The other divisions and his own division gave him assortments of other snacks flowers and something called 'cards'… he would have to ask Rukia what they were later.

At that moment, a knock sounded at his door. Clearing his throat, he sat up straight and re-donned his expressionless face.

"Nii-sama?" Rukia's voice called out hesitantly. He raised an eyebrow and all the pieces clicked into place in his mind.

"Come in, Rukia." She walked in nervously, holding a small cardboard box in front of her.

"In the real world… when people have birthdays… they get something called a birthday cake. I think its supposed to wish you good luck in the coming year… I heard that if you make a wish… it will come true." Rukia said without meeting his eyes.

"I baked you a cake… with some help from the cooks of course…" She set down the cake in front of him.

"Happy birthday, Nii-sama… and um… thankyou for everything." Rukia bowed and turned to leave quickly, but his voice stopped her.

"Rukia,"

"Hai… Nii-sama?"

"You were the one who arranged this, weren't you?" He questioned. Rukia fidgeted slightly.

"Well, after all Nii-sama has done for me… I only wanted to thank him. Ichigo gave me this idea, actually." He arched an eyebrow. That brat was more thoughtful than he seemed.

"I see." He paused for a moment, not knowing exactly what to say to her.

"I apologise if anyone has troubled you today." Rukia bowed again.

"About the koi that Yamamoto-Soutaicho gave you… I was going to ask your permission to let them into the manor first… but then that would have ruined the surprise… so-" He cut her off.

"Thankyou… for everything, Rukia." He said. Her head snapped up. A small, almost non-existent smile was one Kuchiki Byakuya's face. After a while, she smiled back. He stood.

"Come, we should go back to have dinner. If I am correct, we will have guests with us today?" Rukia froze. She had completely forgotten.

"Come then. I will have the servants carry all the rest of the gifts back to the manor later." He passed his sister, carrying the birthday cake that she had just given him.

Yes, all that was left to do now, is to put painful events in the past and move forward. The past is past and tomorrow is another day. Lift our heads to face the future and walk towards the rising sun.

Perhaps, from this day on… birthdays will not be a dreaded event to Kuchiki Byakuya.

"SURPRISE!" All the captains, vice-captains, former-ryoka and even Shihouin Yoruichi burst out from different corners of the dining room to throw confetti over him as he and Rukia entered.

He headed towards his place at the head of the table as the rest of the party proceded to make a mess out of his house. Rukia followed, stuttering slightly as she attempted to explain the concept of 'birthday party' to him.

Yes, from this day on, birthdays were not a thing to be dreaded… well that is… until the guests leave after ruining his house.

Owari


End file.
